SEA DOGS NOTEBOOK

SENDOFF TODAY
The Sea Dogs will host a Memorial Cup sendoff today at Harbour Station from 5:30 – 6:30 pm. Fans we will have an opportunity to interact with players and see the President’s Cup.

Fans are also encouraged to bring posters and letters of encouragement for the players as they look to add a national championship to their first-ever QMJHL title.

CAMERON DONE
As has been rumored, it looks like rookie forward Jason Cameron is done for the season. From the Telegraph-Journal:

Rookie centre Jason Cameron also went down in that contest with a bruised kidney and was subsequently hospitalized in Gatineau. The feisty forward from Clyde River, P.E.I., didn't fly back with the club for Game 5 Friday in Saint John, but his teammates carried the President's Cup into the hospital for him Sunday night. Cameron arrived on the ground floor in a wheelchair and held the chalice for a few minutes before returning to his room. He's expected to remain hospitalized for the next few days and will not skate again until the summer.

In 46 regular season games, Cameron recorded three goals and four assists. In five playoff games he had a single goal and assist.

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
With a little less than 300 tickets still remaining for most games of the Memorial Cup, the event’s committee is thinking that the Sea Dogs will help sell some seats.

“With the Saint John Sea Dogs, the number one ranked team in Canada, now confirmed as the QMJHL representative at the MasterCard Memorial Cup, we expect ticket demand to increase drastically,” said Duncan Stauth, Vice-Chair of the MasterCard Memorial Cup Committee in a release. “We hope fans don’t wait until the last second to get tickets as this will be a fantastic tournament.”

Single game tickets cost $45.

HISTORY FOR DeSERRES
After making it to the Memorial Cup last season with the host Brandon Wheat Kings, Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres will join some rare company this time around. From Luber’s Lounge:

DeSerres is now believed to be just the second player in CHL history to reach the Memorial Cup in back-to-back years with teams in different leagues. Defenceman Robert Savard turned the trick in the early '80's, playing with Cornwall of the QMJHL in the Memorial Cup in 1980 and 1981 and again with the OHL's Kitchener Rangers in 1982.

SCARY PLAYER
Robbie DeFulvis, a member of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, tweeted this to David Gilbert on Monday.

Mike Thomas. Scariest guy to play against... I pray I'm never on the ice at the same time as him

LONG WAIT FOR DESPRES
One of the longest serving Sea Dogs, Simon Despres, is savoring the team’s President’s Cup win after losing in the final last year. From Buzzing The Net:

"I never watched it," he said when asked what he remembered of Saint John losing in the QMJHL final last year to the Moncton Wildcats. "I couldn't watch it, I just looked down at the ice the whole time. I'd get so mad sometimes in the summer when I was working out. It was extra motivation for this year then I got even more motivation after coming back from the world juniors.

It was likely Despres’ last QMJHL game as the 2009 first round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins will move on to the pro-ranks next season.

NOT HAPPY
Solid column on the Sea Dogs’ league title win by Marty Klinkenberg of the Telegraph-Journal on Monday.

But now they are headed to major junior hockey’s equivalent of the Stanley Cup, precocious winners of the Quebec League in their sixth year. The Q can’t be too thrilled with this: New Brunswick teams have won the league title two straight years, with Moncton eliminating the Sea Dogs last season.

PICTURES
Saunders Sports Photography has a couple of albums up on Facebook from the league final games that were played at Harbour Station. There is an album for Game Two and Game Five.

VERY PROUD
The Gatineau Olympiques are wrapping their campaign up and head coach Benoit Groulx couldn’t be any prouder. From the Ottawa Citizen:

“We’re extremely proud of our team and I think our players can walk with their heads high,” Olympiques coach Benoît Groulx said, moments after losing a championship series for the first time in four tries with the Olympiques.

“There’s a winner and a losing in the playoffs, and for us, our players are champions. We have nothing but praise for them.”

It was quite a run for the fifth seeded squad, defeating the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Quebec Remparts – both who were in the final edition of the CHL Top 10 rankings – en route to the cup final.

HUB RANKED SECOND
Future Considerations released their top 30 for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft yesterday.

Jonathan Huberdeau is the highest ranked Sea Dog coming in at No. 2 overall. Nathan Beaulieu is No. 9 and Zack Phillips is placed in No. 27 slot.

NS CONNECTIONS
The Chronicle Herald took a look at the Nova Scotia connections on the Sea Dogs today. NS players include Michael Kirkpatrick, Steven Anthony, and Stephen MacAulay. Mathieu Corbeil is a former member of the Halifax Mooseheads.

Corbeil is enjoying his first time in the playoffs. From the Herald:

"I can’t even explain how great it feels. It’s just amazing," said the 19-year-old goalie. "Before playoffs, I didn’t understand how much more intense the games could get. We never made the playoffs when I was in Halifax so it was all new to me. When I played a few games during the playoffs, everything was so much more intense and I felt myself getting more intense than I ever thought I could be. It just goes to show it’s a totally different game and the Memorial Cup’s going to be even more than that. It’s going to be pretty exciting."

D.O.D. VS TALBOT
The Devon Oliver-Dares vs Mathieu Tablot fight from Sunday.



Photo Credits: Twitter, Marc Henwood/Station Nation, QMJHL